Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES)

Difficult terrain and threats such as ambushes and Improvised
Explosive Devices (IEDs) can make ground-based transportation to and from the
front line a dangerous challenge. Helicopters can easily bypass those problems
but present logistical challenges of their own, and can subject flight crew to
different types of threats. They are also expensive to operate, and the supply
of available helicopters cannot always meet the demand for their services,
which cover diverse operational needs including resupply, fire-team insertion
and extraction, and casualty evacuation.

Difficult
terrain and threats such as ambushes and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)
can make ground-based transportation to and from the front line a dangerous
challenge. Helicopters can easily bypass those problems but present logistical
challenges of their own, and can subject flight crew to different types of
threats. They are also expensive to operate, and the supply of available
helicopters cannot always meet the demand for their services, which cover
diverse operational needs including resupply, fire-team insertion and
extraction, and casualty evacuation.

To help overcome these
challenges, DARPA unveiled the Transformer (TX) program in 2009.
Transformer aimed to develop and demonstrate a prototype system that would
provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation for logistics, personnel
transport and tactical support missions for small ground units. In 2013, DARPA
selected the Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) design concept to
move forward.

ARES is a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight
module designed to operate as an unmanned platform capable of transporting a
variety of payloads. The ARES VTOL flight module is designed to have its own
power system, fuel, digital flight controls and remote command-and-control
interfaces. Twin tilting ducted fans would provide efficient hovering and
landing capabilities in a compact configuration, with rapid conversion to
high-speed cruise flight.

It is envisioned that the flight module
would travel between its home base and field operations to deliver and
retrieve several different types of detachable mission modules, each designed
for a specific purpose. Example modules could include:

Cargo
resupply

Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC)

Intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)

The ARES program would
enable numerous benefits, including:

Useful load capability as
high as 3,000 pounds, more than 40 percent of the takeoff gross weight of the
aircraft

Flight performance similar to light aircraft

Compact configuration and the ability to use landing zones half the size
typically needed by helicopters of similar size

Program Manager

Images

DARPA’s Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) program aims to develop and demonstrate a modular transportation system built around a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight module operated as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The flight module would carry one of several different types of detachable mission modules, each designed for a specific purpose, such as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) (top left), casualty evacuation (top right) and cargo resupply (top center and bottom). The program seeks to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success.